A Plea for Accuracy

by Rachel Stockman

The polls are closed, the campaigning is over -- why doesn't America have a President to inaugurate come January? This election, which some say was closer than "two coats of paint," might simply be described as the product of a manufactured media "crisis" which begs for something to talk about. When news cable stations, such as Fox, CNN and MSNBC provide the public with twenty four hour news coverage, "It is these stations' responsibility to provide the public with facts," said Greenwich High School student Ryan Sherwin during a staff meeting of TeenSpeak Today for the Leaders of Tomorrow.

In an embarrassment of major proportions, we saw the news networks jump the gun by pronouncing Vice President Gore the winner of Florida's electoral votes way before the information from Florida was conclusive. First announced by NBC, "the public then watched a feeding frenzy mentality by the networks that wanted to jump on the band wagon and be the ones that have the latest up to date news," said John Zogby, one of the hottest pollsters in the US today. "This information was based on Exit Polls which are inaccurate and should not be used to call elections -- which is exactly what all the networks used because they wanted to feed on this election frenzy!" he added.

It is not hard to understand why this mistake occured; the networks were pressured so much to garner a substantial audience that they didn't have time to check their sources adequately. Later that night, the networks withdrew their convictions and pronouced Florida as an undecided state. Mr. Colmes, the liberal commentator on the Hannity & Colmes show on Fox News felt that "The media should just not say anything until after all the polls are closed in order not to sway voters." His conservative colleague Shaun Hannity of the same show reported to this TeenSpeak reporter who spent a good part of election night at Fox News, "The media probably jumped the gun too quick, and they probably regret it. I think it is fun to see them back peddle and eat crow, especially Dan Rather, is that okay to say?" Jordan Sanders, TeenSpeak's on-staff photographer and a student at Brunswick said, "It is a risk by the major networks to put out information without adequate sourcing. In the long run, the station will lose people's trust."